The City of Surrey is undertaking a feasibility study on a new waterfront entertainment district near the entrance to the city via the Pattullo Bridge.

This is Edmonton podcast looks at the implications of a leader with local connections, and how a prime minister from Calgary, or Edmonton, could change our relationship with Ottawa.

Kingsville Fire and Rescue is working with the Loomex Group on a Fire Master Plan.

Our goal is to identify strategies for managing heightened demands on the fire department as the community grows, and align services to meet community need.

Please take our survey to provide input on our current emergency service level and help inform future planning.

The post Have Your Say on Emergency Services appeared first on Kingsville Times.

NDP Leader Jim Dinn is slamming what he see’s as the provincial government’s lack of transparency in the recent sale of the old Airport Comfort Inn, now operating as transitional housing as Horizons 106.

A Brampton-based numbered company recently purchased three Comfort Inn hotels from the Clayton Hospitality Group according to AllNewfoundland and Labrador.

The provincial government is leasing the east-end property for $21 million over three years, but says the new owners intend to “maintain the facility for its existing purpose.”Dinn says the transaction leaves a lot of questions, including whether the facility will remain transitional housing for a certain number of years, or whether it could be reverted back into a hotel and force residents out.

He says the fact that the province has said nothing about the sale is “unacceptable,” and now the millions government is spending on leasing the property is flowing out of the province to Ontario.

ADULT PROGRAM

Travel by Cook Book!
Saturday, March 22nd
1- 2:30 p.m.

Learn about a different country or region and its cuisine.

This month we focus on Eastern Europe.

Come and learn about the cuisine from a different part of the world!

Cook something wonderful and bring it in to share.

Register online at www.essexcountylibrary.ca or call the library at 226-946-1529 ext. 445.

Image by Kris from Pixabay.

CHILDREN PROGRAMS
.

LEGO® Club at Kingsville
Wednesday March 26th
6 – 7 p.m.
For Ages 5 – 12 yrs 

Use your imagination to create masterpieces with LEGO®!

Share your own ideas and get inspired for your next building experience. (4th Wednesday of the month)

Register online at www.essexcountylibrary.ca or call the library at 226-946-1529 ext. 445.

Image by Astrid Schaffner from Pixabay

***

Chess Club
Thursday March 27th
4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
For Ages 7+

Play chess with others! Practice your strategies and skills!

All skill levels welcome!

Chess boards will be set up for casual play. Instruction to be given to those new to the game.

Register online at www.essexcountylibrary.ca or call the library at 226-946-1529 ext. 445.

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay

The post Adult and Children Programs at Kingsville Library appeared first on Kingsville Times.

At least six migrants have died and 40 were missing after a shipwreck off the Italian island of Lampedusa, a spokesperson for the United Nations Refugee Agency said on Wednesday.

Ottawa has put in place new rules limiting the fees banks can levy on customers who don’t have enough in their accounts to cover a cheque or other pre-authorized charges.

The updates, included in an order-in-council last week, cap non-sufficient funds fees at $10 for personal deposit accounts, prohibit charging more than one NSF fee in a period of two business days, and prohibit charging an NSF fee when an account shortfall is under $10.

The Finance Department said Wednesday that the changes will take effect starting March 12, 2026.

The government announced in the budget last year that it would reduce the fees, which currently run close to $50 at major banks, saying they disproportionately affect low-income Canadians and people with poor credit history.

Customers have sometimes seen high charges for being only pennies short. In a class-action lawsuit settlement against TD Bank Group last year, the lead plaintiff had been charged $96 for being 45 cents short on a PayPal bill after the merchant tried to put the purchase through twice.

While there’s limited data on NSF fees, the federal government said last year that it estimates the proposed changes represent a $5.1 billion benefit to consumers over 10 years, and a $4.8 billion cost to banks, based on net present values.

It also estimated that banks charged NSF fees on a total of 15.8 million transactions in 2023, and that about a third of Canadians get hit with an NSF fee in any year.

Debit purchases aren’t generally subject to the fee because such transactions are rejected if there isn’t enough money in the account. 

The Canadian Bankers Association said in a statement that the fees encourage responsible banking behavior, and that to avoid the fees, customers can regularly monitor their account balances, set up balance alerts, and consider overdraft protection services.

It said that with the regulations finalized, banks will focus on making the system and process changes needed to comply by the start date. 

There were some changes to the final rules from those proposed, including shortening the period when a consumer can’t be charged twice to two business days from 72 hours. 

A proposed rule to require a warning to customers about a potential charge and to give a grace period to fix the problem appears to have been dropped, as was a requirement that banks disclose statistics on the fees such as total revenue and total number of NSF fees charged.

Waahli, Se7en Bubbles (self-released)

At only seven tracks but north of 25 minutes, Waahli knows how to make the most of a short runtime. His newest album, Se7en Bubbles, is further proof of that, while also seeing the trilingual local rapper/singer sound more confident and relaxed than ever. One of the themes here is impermanence, which is the title of its Nicholas Craven-produced fifth track — one that touches on grief in painfully vivid fashion. Going from celebratory (“Vendredi”) to thoughtful (“Impermanence,” the Nujabes-esque “Who We Are”) in English, French and/or Créole with equal gusto, those two emotions basically form separate halves of this album. His hooks sound stronger and punchier, the production is excellent throughout, and I’d love to see what more Waahli could do with this musical direction on a lengthier body of work. 8/10 Trial Track: “Impermanence”

This review was originally published in the March issue of Cult MTL. For more on Waahli, please visit his website.

For more Montreal music coverage, please visit the Music section.

The post Waahli, Se7en Bubbles: REVIEW appeared first on Cult MTL.

After downturns in forestry and petroleum production, B.C.'s northernmost municipality has turned to tourism for a lifeline. Now, residents worry the threat of tolls on American truck traffic could be the final blow.

The Nunavik Youth Houses Association celebrated its 20th anniversary with the completion of a brand new youth centre in Kangiqsujuaq.

Nunavik Youth Houses Association director Tuniq Ningiuruvik says more funding and sponsors should come forward to help Nunavik create more youth houses. (Photo credit of Tuniq Ningiuruvik/Facebook)

Youth houses are “very important,” the association’s director general Tuniq Ningiuruvik said in an interview from his home in Quaqtaq.

The association was created by the Nunavut Regional Board of Health and Social Services to create youth houses and provide youth services across the region. 

“Youth don’t have a lot of places to go to. It is the arena and that’s about it,” Ningiuruvik said.

Youth houses are for children and teens between the ages of five and 19 who wish to do activities and hang out with friends, Ningiuruvik said.

Kangiqsujuaq hasn’t had a youth house since 2017 when a previous house, built in 2000, burned.

With $5.5 million from the Inuit Community Infrastructure Fund, the new youth centre promises a safe space for Nunavimmiut youth to do things such as on-the-land activities, games, outings, sports, and first-aid training.

“We have to think of the youth, especially in those smaller communities, who don’t have a lot going on and they tend to be doing things they should not be doing,” Ningiuruvik said.

He believes that these houses prevent vandalism, crime and drug abuse in the communities. 

The association intends to celebrate its 20th anniversary once the move into the Kangiqsujuaq house is complete and the new youth centre is up and running. That’s expected to take place by the end of the month.

There are 10 communities with active youth houses running in Nunavik. All of them have youth co-ordinators and staff who lead activities, he added.

The association’s goal is to train those younger employees to become community leaders themselves. The skills they acquire by organizing events and uniting the youth of their village help them become leaders.

“I want to see more youth becoming leaders,” Ningiuruvik said.

Four communities do not have active youth centres — Kuujjuaq, Kangiqsualujjuaq, Puvirnituq and Tasiujaq. 

Kuujjuaq is working on building a new youth centre, and a youth house association office is being built in Kangiqsualujjuaq, with construction to be completed by June, Ningiuruvik said.

Puvirnituq is also working on getting a new building, with construction expected to start this summer or next. 

Many of the youth houses also have aging infrastructure, including Salluit, Ivujivik, Quaqtaq, Tasiujaq and Kuujjuaraapik, with some of them being old nurse housing or churches from the 1970s. 

The Quaqtaq youth house is at risk of having water seep into it from the river.

“We were told we can use it until five years from now, we don’t have a lot of time,” Ningiuruvik said. 

Tasiujaq’s youth house closed due to asbestos, and Inukjuak’s has that problem as well, but remains open. 

The association is currently looking for more sponsors and funding to continue their efforts in building safe environments for Nunavik youth, Ningiuruvik said.

For many years, Jay Mitchell believed he was Métis — until a DNA test helped him find his true biological family in the Yukon, and prompted him to pick up and move to Whitehorse.

The leader of the federal Conservative party is in Sudbury today making promises, if elected, to 'unlock' access to critical minerals in the Ring of Fire and build a new road into the remote mining camp in northwestern Ontario.

The provincial government says it has ordered the company, which owns a transport truck which overturned on the Burin Peninsula Highway last month, to hire a registered site professional to remediate the area.

Nancy Barrington, lives nearby in Swift Current and says about 700 litres of diesel fuel spilled from the rig and is now seeping into the ocean.

The Department of Digital Government and Service NL says the polluter, Ollie Transportation, is aware of its responsibility to clean up the area.

Photo via Facebook

The cleanup had begun, but the government stopped it when it determined that the work was not progressing as it should have been. A ministerial order was issued last week requiring the polluter to take all steps necessary to control, eliminate, remedy or prevent an adverse effect on the environment.

When the site is remediated to the department’s satisfaction, a clearance document will be sent to the polluter.

Barrington is wondering who is going to clean up the diesel fuel – and when.

An absorbent material left behind near the waterfront – photo via Facebook

She says the cleanup came to an abrupt end prematurely. She has gone through every potential party involved and cannot find out why the fuel is not being cleaned up. She feels the environment department should clean up the site first, then ask questions later rather than wait for the insurance and legal process to play out.

“It’s really frustrating because it’s my property and it should be an environmental emergency. I want to know who’s going to clean this up and what’s going to happen,” she said.

REGINA – The budget documents are ready and printed and the new shoes are ready to be worn for Finance Minister Jim Reiter’s first Saskatchewan provincial budget on Wednesday.

As is tradition, the printed budget books were delivered to Reiter in the finance minister’s office on Tuesday afternoon, one day before Reiter is set to rise in the Legislative Assembly to deliver the 2025 budget. 

While he remained tight-lipped about the 2025 budget contents, Reiter did provide some glimpse about what the budget will contain. The budget document itself goes by the title “Delivering for You” — an early indication that the budget will focus on delivering of voters during the fall 2024 election.

Reiter confirmed the budget would “deliver on the priority areas… that we heard from people during the election campaign where they expect government to focus.”

But tariff threats looms large over this year’s provincial budget. Reiter told reporters the government was concerned about tariffs from the USA as well as China.

“Obviously the Premier’s called on the federal government to do something,” Reiter said.

“Just know we are concerned.”

He acknowledged the impact tariffs had in terms of preparing the budget. “It was difficult —- it adds so much uncertainty,” said Reiter.

“So what you’re going to see tomorrow in the budget speech first thing out of the gate is discussion on tariffs. You’ll also going to see, as part of the budget, some analysis work done by the Ministry of Finance on that as well.”

Overall, Reiter said he enjoyed working on his first budget in the Finance portfolio.

“I’m a numbers nerd, so I loved it. It was a great experience. I’m very happy, very comfortable with where we landed which I look forward to sharing with you tomorrow.”

One tradition that comes with the budget is the new shoes Reiter will be wearing. He chose the shoes with a nod to “kind of the geopolitical climate that we are in today.”

The colour of the shoes was black — “I’ll let you read into that what you will.” Reiter later noted that the shoe colour goes with the colour of the suit he will be wearing.

As well, Reiter tried to buy shoes that were not from China or the USA, in light of the tariffs from the countries.

“These shoes are manufactured in India, our major trading partner, and their head office is in England,” said Reiter. 

Reiter expressed his hope that the tariff threat would settle down.

“The world needs to get back to free trade or as close to free trade as we can get. We’re an export based economy — that’s to our advantage, and it’s frankly to the whole world’s advantage.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says that he will “set a goal” to greenlight all federal Ring of Fire permits, a major northwestern Ontario critical mineral deposit, within six months.

Poilievre says that a Conservative government would also commit $1-billion over three years to build a road network to link the potential mining site to Ontario’s highway network and First Nations communities in the area.

The CPS budget shortfall is the result of revenue loss brought on by new provincial rules limiting the use of photo radar.